Why Big Tech companies got quiet on climate change — Answer!? ‘Massive AI data centers’ are game changer for companies that ‘once led the way in net-zero commitments’ – Claim AI will ‘accelerate climate solutions’

Google’s sustainability webpage once specifically mentioned the company’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2030, and included a subpage titled “operating sustainably.”

But that pledge has disappeared from the main page, which now highlights the company’s commitment to artificial intelligence. The subpage was renamed “our operations.”

Google maintains that it is still aiming for a 2030 goal, though executives have acknowledged that the growth of AI makes it challenging.

Still, the change to the sustainability page is an example of how tech companies are being a bit quieter about their climate goals as they expand their use of AI.

The explosive growth of data centers to support the AI surge is “calling into question” whether the major tech companies—Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon—can meet their pledges to reduce emissions, according to a 2025 corporate responsibility report from the NewClimate Institute.

Already, companies are reporting emissions increases in their annual sustainability reports. …

Along with complicating their climate goals, the AI push seems to be changing how Big Tech talks about, and even considers, the climate. ….

EMISSIONS TARGETS HAVE ‘LOST THEIR MEANING’

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“Those [companies] that we identified before as having more constructive or ambitious positions have gone relatively quiet,” Day says, “while those pushing for more problematic approaches really doubled down.”

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Microsoft’s emissions could surge 44% due to just one West Virginia data center that will run entirely on natural gas, according to Stand.earth research.

Google also recently announced it will use natural gas to power a massive Texas data center, which could emit, according to one calculation, as much as 4.5 million tons of carbon dioxide a year—more than the entire city of San Francisco.

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But online, its language has changed: Meta’s sustainability page previously said the company “commit[s] to reaching net zero emissions” by 2030. Now, the page says “we have set a goal to achieve net zero emissions” by then.

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